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Netgear Orbi or Unifi
- Thread starter JrClocker
- Start date
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #42
I have installed 2 Unifi PoE switches:
- Main Switch: 16 Port, 150 W PoE
- Secondary Switch: 8 Port, 150 W PoE
Setting up and managing the Unifi switches through the controller is SUPER EASY. My old 16 port switch (TP Link) is a "smart" swtich, not a fully managed switch like the Unifi switches. I am able to pass and segment VLAN traffic with this switch, so I am keeping it. Obviously, it doesn't interface with the Unifi controller software, but it can be managed through a web interface. Not as nice as the Unifi controller, but still functional.
I have setup a separate IoT (Internet of Things) VLAN on my main network. I have moved all of the network enabled (that's not Z-Wave or ZigBee) over to this network.
Physically, I have the above mentioned TPLink switch setup as a switching fabric for only the IoT network. It's very easy within the Unifi controller software to tag a port to only pass a specific VLAN.
What's also cool, is that I setup a separate SSID for the Unifi Access Points, and tagged the SSID to work with the IoT VLAN. The WiFi enabled smart devices now connect into a separate SSID, and their traffic is routed through the Access Points and switches as a separate VLAN.
The Unifi Controller software makes setting up and managing VLANs like this very simple. Heck, I have never setup a VLAN before and was able to figure it out quickly. Even setting up new Firewall rules between them was straight forward.
All in all, I'm very impressed with this Unifi gear. It is definitely "pro-sumer" grade hardware, but the price tag is not that much more expensive than the consumer grade stuff. The functionality, quality of build, and ease of use is fantastic. The electronics have plenty of overhead in them to handle everything I am throwing at it.
My next journey here is to start using more of the PoE ports. I have ordered one of these PoE splitters from PoE Texas (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0167JHY3I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The goal for this PoE splitter is to run my MoCA 2.0 devices (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013J7OBUU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) off PoE. If this works, I'll be able to remove a UPS from my setup. Also, I'll be able to drop 3 "wall warts" from my whole setup as well (won't have to plug them into A/C power).
Assuming the experiment goes well, I'll be powering many other devices off the PoE (and eliminating many other power cords):
- SmartThings Hub
- ADT Pulse Hub
- Unifi USG
- HDHomeRun TV Tuner
- Etc.
I'll be focusing first on Type 1 PoE devices (draw less than 12.95 watts) first. Basically, if it has an ethernet cable and is less than 12.95 watts, I would like to connect it into the PoE switches via a PoE splitter. I get to remove an A/C adapter every time I do this...wonderful!
I ordered one to check out the functionality. This devices is supposed to have an isolation transformer to avoid issues like the TP Link PoE splitters have (https://blog.zencoffee.org/2015/11/tp-link-tl-poe10r-poe-splitter-ground-loop-issues/)...there are many more articles out there (and a you tube video) about the TP Link PoE splitters not having the proper isolation.
Again, hats off to ATMINSIDE for turning me on to the Unifi product line. Fantastic hardware!
- Main Switch: 16 Port, 150 W PoE
- Secondary Switch: 8 Port, 150 W PoE
Setting up and managing the Unifi switches through the controller is SUPER EASY. My old 16 port switch (TP Link) is a "smart" swtich, not a fully managed switch like the Unifi switches. I am able to pass and segment VLAN traffic with this switch, so I am keeping it. Obviously, it doesn't interface with the Unifi controller software, but it can be managed through a web interface. Not as nice as the Unifi controller, but still functional.
I have setup a separate IoT (Internet of Things) VLAN on my main network. I have moved all of the network enabled (that's not Z-Wave or ZigBee) over to this network.
Physically, I have the above mentioned TPLink switch setup as a switching fabric for only the IoT network. It's very easy within the Unifi controller software to tag a port to only pass a specific VLAN.
What's also cool, is that I setup a separate SSID for the Unifi Access Points, and tagged the SSID to work with the IoT VLAN. The WiFi enabled smart devices now connect into a separate SSID, and their traffic is routed through the Access Points and switches as a separate VLAN.
The Unifi Controller software makes setting up and managing VLANs like this very simple. Heck, I have never setup a VLAN before and was able to figure it out quickly. Even setting up new Firewall rules between them was straight forward.
All in all, I'm very impressed with this Unifi gear. It is definitely "pro-sumer" grade hardware, but the price tag is not that much more expensive than the consumer grade stuff. The functionality, quality of build, and ease of use is fantastic. The electronics have plenty of overhead in them to handle everything I am throwing at it.
My next journey here is to start using more of the PoE ports. I have ordered one of these PoE splitters from PoE Texas (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0167JHY3I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The goal for this PoE splitter is to run my MoCA 2.0 devices (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013J7OBUU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) off PoE. If this works, I'll be able to remove a UPS from my setup. Also, I'll be able to drop 3 "wall warts" from my whole setup as well (won't have to plug them into A/C power).
Assuming the experiment goes well, I'll be powering many other devices off the PoE (and eliminating many other power cords):
- SmartThings Hub
- ADT Pulse Hub
- Unifi USG
- HDHomeRun TV Tuner
- Etc.
I'll be focusing first on Type 1 PoE devices (draw less than 12.95 watts) first. Basically, if it has an ethernet cable and is less than 12.95 watts, I would like to connect it into the PoE switches via a PoE splitter. I get to remove an A/C adapter every time I do this...wonderful!
I ordered one to check out the functionality. This devices is supposed to have an isolation transformer to avoid issues like the TP Link PoE splitters have (https://blog.zencoffee.org/2015/11/tp-link-tl-poe10r-poe-splitter-ground-loop-issues/)...there are many more articles out there (and a you tube video) about the TP Link PoE splitters not having the proper isolation.
Again, hats off to ATMINSIDE for turning me on to the Unifi product line. Fantastic hardware!
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2005
- Location
- North Brookfield, MA
not to derail the topic but what are you running for a wireless setup..i have a pfsense box and i was going to get a pci-e card that takes a miini pci-e card like you would find in a laptop to gain wireless inside pfsense.. right now i'm using a TP-link RE650 in access point mode and it works way better than the arris router/modem crap i got from the cable company.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
I'm using this board/CPU for my PFSense box with 4GB of RAM, a small SSD, and an Intel PCIe NIC. Something similar will handle anything you throw at it.
http://www.overclockers.com/biostar-a68n-5000-miniitx-soc-review/
For Wi-Fi I'm running a Ubiquiti AP-AC-PRO access point and to get more Ethernet ports I have a Dell PowerConnect 5424.
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #46
The PoE Texas PoE splitters worked great for the MoCA 2.0 devices. (For the record, these devices draw less than 3 watts from the PoE ports.)
So, a total of 4 PoE devices...2 UniFi Access Points, and 2 Actiontec MoCA 2.0 devices.
Also, I played around more with VLANs. I just finished setting up my older TP Link “managed” switch to pass VLAN traffic properly with the UniFi switches. I “split“ the TP Link switch in half...half of it is on the IoT network, and the other half is on my “main” network.
Muhuhuhuhahahahaha!
So, a total of 4 PoE devices...2 UniFi Access Points, and 2 Actiontec MoCA 2.0 devices.
Also, I played around more with VLANs. I just finished setting up my older TP Link “managed” switch to pass VLAN traffic properly with the UniFi switches. I “split“ the TP Link switch in half...half of it is on the IoT network, and the other half is on my “main” network.
Muhuhuhuhahahahaha!
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #48
Netgear Orbi
Just brought my SmartThings hub over to PoE...hurray...another power wall-wart gone!
Ordered a PoE adapter for my UniFi USG router...will be here Sunday!
PoE is addictive! I needed the PoE switch to run the UniFi Access Points...now I’m switching over everything to PoE that I can!
Hats Off to the company “PoE Texas”! Great customer support...you tell them your device, hey recommend a PoE splitter...and will even tell you what size plug adapter you need to get if the vendor is using non-standard DC plugs!
Best part of all, the devices are all properly isolated, so no worries about ground loops!
:RAWR:
(We SOOOOOO need that emoji!)
Any chance I can get the thread title changed to “Netgear Orbi or UniFi?”
Just brought my SmartThings hub over to PoE...hurray...another power wall-wart gone!
Ordered a PoE adapter for my UniFi USG router...will be here Sunday!
PoE is addictive! I needed the PoE switch to run the UniFi Access Points...now I’m switching over everything to PoE that I can!
Hats Off to the company “PoE Texas”! Great customer support...you tell them your device, hey recommend a PoE splitter...and will even tell you what size plug adapter you need to get if the vendor is using non-standard DC plugs!
Best part of all, the devices are all properly isolated, so no worries about ground loops!
:RAWR:
(We SOOOOOO need that emoji!)
Any chance I can get the thread title changed to “Netgear Orbi or UniFi?”
- Joined
- May 7, 2011
- Location
- Cook->Kent
FWIW given this is thread has been going on for a while, I’ve been running Unifi for about two years, now consisting of a USG, three 8 port PoE switches, three AP-AC-Pro APs and two AP-AC-M-Pros for outdoors. I run beta FW all the time, so it’s expected there will be some issues from that alone, but generally it’s been rock solid. I did use their Cloud Key for a bit for the controller but found it to be a bit underpowered for stats, so I popped it onto a VM with much more horsepower.
I did use the ER-3 for a bit as it has more features exposed in the UI, but wanted the proper single pane of glass so opted for the USG instead as it did everything I really needed anyway.
All the APs are wired, so no mucking about with mesh networks as I didn’t want the performance hit, not that I’d probably notice it anyway. But it’s a cleaner install and the house is wired up anyway so it was a no brainer.
I did use the ER-3 for a bit as it has more features exposed in the UI, but wanted the proper single pane of glass so opted for the USG instead as it did everything I really needed anyway.
All the APs are wired, so no mucking about with mesh networks as I didn’t want the performance hit, not that I’d probably notice it anyway. But it’s a cleaner install and the house is wired up anyway so it was a no brainer.
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